A Disturbance in Paradise Chapter One
by illogicalwriters101
Summary: Clare finally has it all...until someone comes along and tears her and Eli apart. Will Clare let it happen? Read to find out :
1. Chapter 1

PART ONE

Chapter one

*Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi or any of its characters.*

"Hey you," Clare said as she approached Eli's locker, like she did every day after 3rd period.

Eli turned toward his girlfriend, "Hey Clare-bear," He planted a light kiss on her forehead, then her lips. He could feel her smile as she kissed him back. God how he loved her smile.

"So I was thinking you and I could study tonight…at your place, maybe work on your room a bit more?" Clare inched her way closer to Eli so that their bodies were just about touching. She laid her hand lightly on his arm, obviously trying to persuade him. Cleaning his room and working on his hoarding problem were certainly not his favorite things, but he did want to change and knew that as long as Clare was there that everything would be okay so he agreed.

"Okay I'll drive you to my house in the hearse after school." Eli said as he took her hand and walked her to English.

After listening to her English teacher lecture about the tragedy "Romeo and Juliet", Clare and Eli were accompanied by Adam as they walked to lunch. They sat outside at their typical shady lunch table, Eli next to Clare and Adam across from them.

"Hey did you guys here about the new girl that now goes here?" Adam asked.

"No, who is she?" Clare replied opening a bottle of water.

"I don't know her name, but I heard something about her being a freshman. Some new drama maker I'm sure." Adam joked. Just then Ali walked up and sat next to Adam while laughing, "Ha-ha I think that spot was taken a while ago" They all instinctively glanced at Jenna and KC.

Clare turned and looked at Eli who was looking and smiling at her.

"Jenna can do whatever she wants. I've already got what I want" Eli gently kissed her and Adam jokingly pretended to make out with Ali. They all laughed and continued in gossip related conversations.

After lunch, Eli stopped with Clare at her locker so she could grab her French book. As she grabbed her books Eli heard someone call his name from across the hallway. He turned around to find similar green eyes staring back at him. He couldn't believe what he saw. How could she be here? It can't be possible! He couldn't bring himself to move. Clare stared up at him questioningly.

"Eli, I told you, you couldn't hide me forever!" The girl nearly screamed across the hallway.

Every student walking by them stopped in their tracks to see what was going on. The girl started walking toward Eli and Clare stepped back a step. Eli just stood there with his mouth slightly open, a look of shock spread across his face. The girl moved her glare from Eli to Clare and smiled deviously, "Aww, look at you. Well you must be _Clare-bear_."

Clare glared at her, "How do you know me?"

The girl almost laughed," Oh, Eli has told me a lot about you."

Clare looked even more confused as she glanced at Eli, "Who is she?"

The girl took another step toward the two, "Oh, Eli didn't tell you about me? I'm…"

"She's an old family friend." Eli quickly interrupted her. "Isn't that right…Maria?" He was glaring at her now.

Maria started laughing. "Well I guess little _Clare-bear_will find out who I am eventually." She winked at Eli and started to walk toward the Spanish room. Clare's eyes were on her until she was out of sight.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Eli who is she?" Clare's voice was getting significantly louder as she followed Eli quickly to his locker. She could feel the stares of everyone around her.

"Clare I told you…She's no one. Uhh…it's not important." He had a distant look on his face.

"Are you trying to convince you or me?" Clare challenged, but he was gone in his class.

The rest of Clare's classes went by in a blur. What that so-called "Maria" said in the hallway kept playing in her mind. Who was she? Clare couldn't handle the idea of Eli lying to her, but at this point it was a definite possibility. How could Eli have known that girl? Clare decided that she would do whatever it takes (lol) to figure out who Maria really was and what was going on between her and Eli. To do this, she thought a good place to start would be to talk to Ali.

She found Ali talking to Adam at her locker after 4th period. Clare walked up and asked if they saw what happened in the hallway earlier. It turns out…they both had.

"Adam, are you sure you have no idea who she is? I mean your Eli's best friend. You haven't ever heard him talk about her or to her before?" Clare interrogated.

"No, I swear. I've never heard of her before. The only girl Eli talks about is you and as if that isn't annoying enough." Adam answered jokingly nudging Ali.

"I've never heard of her either Clare." Ali added.

"Maybe you should ask more from Eli after school." Adam suggested.

Clare groaned and started walking toward the door of the school as the final bell rang. She saw Eli already waiting for her in the driver's seat of the hearse. Clare hesitantly opened the door and got in, noticing an obviously fake smile on Eli's face.

"Hey Clare-bear." He greeted her as he started the car. Clare didn't answer. She sat in hesitant silence, her eyes on Eli the whole time. "Clare You're not still worrying about what happened today, are you?" He asked, feeling her eyes watching him intently.

"Well it bothers me a little. You seem like you're hiding something from me…from everyone."

Eli rolled his eyes and flashed her a small smile, but Clare could still see worry on his face despite his efforts to hide it.

They sat in silence the rest of the way to Eli's house. When they got there they both got out and entered his house to find Bullfrog watching TV on the living room couch.

"Hey sport!" Bullfrog embraced Eli in a huge hug, and then turned to Clare," And you brought Clare-bear!" He hugged Clare too. Clare always liked Bullfrog as a father figure for Eli. She could often see his personality sparkle in his son.

"We are going to study up in my room, ok?" Eli asked his father.

"Of course, anything to get little Clare-bear up in that bedroom of yours!" Bullfrog smiled and winked at Clare.

Eli just rolled his eyes and started walking toward his bedroom, when Clare got an idea. I was a little risky but she has to know.

"Bullfrog? Do you know a freshman girl named Maria?" She daringly asked. She studied his face as it changed from confusion to shock to disbelief. He threw a quick glance at Eli who immediately stepped up and took total control of the question.

"No, he doesn't. She's new, remember Clare? She just moved here." He grabbed Clare's arm and practically dragged her into his room. Just before he closed the door Clare could see the horror on his face. "Are you crazy?" He cornered her.

"What? You said she was a family friend, so I thought he might know more about her, but now I'm thinking that you might be the one lying to me." She tried not to yell, but it was building inside her.

Eli sat on his bed and started getting his books out of his bag.

"Eli." Clare needed him…needed him to tell her that he didn't know that girl and that he doesn't lie. However, she knew that was a useless want. "Eli are we gonna talk about this?" she questioned sitting next to him on the bed.

"There's nothing to talk about Clare." His smile was almost sincere. She almost believed him. He leaned over and kissed her forehead and worked his way down to her throat. He kissed her gently and the feel of his skin against hers calmed her. She let him kiss her neck and make his way back up to her lips. He moved his body slightly so that he hovered her on the bed. His kissing got a bit more intense. Clare wanted him to stop so that she could ask about that girl but instead, she found her hands intertwined in his thick brown hair as he crushed his lips onto hers. His hands slid down to her hips and back up her spine. She could feel the tingle of his touch spike through her. She could easily forget any and all of her fears when in his arms. It took her a while to finally compose herself enough to stop the kissing and maneuver herself out from under him. They both sat up and Eli could see disappointment spread across Clare's face. Sadness darkened her crystal blue eyes.

"Clare, don't let what happen today bother you." He put a hand on her lower back.

"It won't bother me once I find out what really did happen today." She remarked.

"Nothing happened." Eli looked at the floor. He couldn't lie directly to her face.

"When you actually tell me the truth about that, then it won't bother me." Clare spit back as she left his room and snuck by Bullfrog before leaving on her bike and riding home.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

As Clare rode home she could hear her text message ring tone going off in her pocket. She figured it was Eli so she didn't bother to look or answer. All she could seem to think about was the fact that Eli had lied to her.

When she finally arrived home, she parked her bike in the garage and pulled out her phone. She could see the little screen light up "7 New Messages- Eli Cell 3". Clare quickly closed her little blue phone and opened the front door. She found her mom sitting in the living room surrounded by tons of family photo albums.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Clare smiled. It humbled her to see her mother happy and content after the brutal divorce.

"Hi honey, well since it's my week here with you I thought it would be nice to go through some old memories." She placed a gentle hand on Clare's shoulder as she scooted over so Clare could have room to sit.

Clare sat next to her mother as they flipped through old family pictures. She noticed that these were the photos taken last summer when Clare and her family took a vacation to the Jersey Shore. Her favorite picture was taken of her lounging in the warm golden sand while her parents are hugging and laughing behind her. As this picture came into view, Clare could almost feel her mother cringe.

Her mom suddenly closed the album and smiled at her daughter. Clare wondered what she was thinking about.

"I have a surprise for you." Her mom quickly stood up and left the room just to return a few moments later with a dark blue photo album with a red bow on the front. "I was feeling a little creative today. It's for you. I know that the divorce was hard on you so I wanted to give you something to remind you of the good times over the past year."

Clare couldn't speak. This was such a nice thing her mother did for her and she couldn't wait to look through it.

Her mother placed the album on the coffee table in front of them and opened it to the first page. There in the little picture holder was the Jersey Shore picture. Clare smiled; her mom must have known that was her favorite. They spent the next twenty minutes looking through the album. Clare saw pictures of mostly her family before the divorce, Darcy in Africa with her new boyfriend, Ali and her many parties, but a couple pages caught her attention completely. Her mother put in six whole pages of pictures of Eli. There was the picture of Clare and Eli in Morty when they first started dating and another from Degrassi's Halloween dance. Looking at them hurt. Clare could feel the anger and frustration build up inside her every time she turned the page and saw another pair of those hazel eyes. She quickly closed the book and turned toward her mom.

"Umm mom? This is really nice of you." She hugged her mom and headed up to her room, hoping to get some much needed sleep.

Clare woke up the next morning to realize that she didn't have anyone to drive her to school. Her mom already left for work and she didn't want to face Eli this early in the morning. She called Adam and asked if his mom could take her to school. A blue charger pulled up in her driveway, Mrs. Torres's car. Clare thanked Adam and Mrs. Torre's as they started toward Degrassi High.

Clare felt so strange sitting in the back of a car on the ride to school. She was so used to sitting in the passenger's seat of Morty. She noticed Adam's eyes studying her from the side. She shot him a look that she hoped conveyed a message something like "I'm fine" but by the way she felt this morning, it probably showed something a little more like "I'm disappointed but I don't want you to know that." Regardless of what her face showed, Adam seemed to understand and looked away.

Clare walked into school and went straight to her locker. She could see Eli standing next to it and groaned to herself.

"Hey Clare-bear." Eli tried to sound like nothing was wrong but he could see the hurt spread across Clare's face. She couldn't even look at him. "Clare please! Talk to me! I want to help." He moved closer.

"If you really want to help then you will tell me who she is and why you are hiding it from me." Clare spit back at him. She could finally face him but looking directly into his eyes still stung.

Eli groaned," You want to know who she is? Fine come with me! Bring Ali too I'm sure she will want to know who the new drama maker is!" Eli was obviously pissed and Clare knew it. She didn't like this side of Eli and was a little scared to disobey. He grabbed her arm and took her out to the Zen Garden. "Wait here." Clare stayed like a little puppy as she watched Eli walk down the hall. Ali showed up a moment later and sat down, just as clueless as Clare was.

Eli strode down the hall looking for Maria. Determination in his eyes as he found her talking to Dave outside the English room.

"Maria." Eli interrupted her mid-sentence.

Both Dave and Maria turned to look at Eli.

"Eli, well this is a surprise." Maria raised her dark eyebrows at him.

"We need to talk…now." Eli said strongly, but Maria didn't falter. She was just as tough.

"Umm I'm not sure if you realized, but we were in the middle of a conversation. Go talk to your precious Clare or something." Maria turned back to Dave who looked satisfied that a girl wanted to talk to him more than a junior.

"Maria I'm not joking, we need to talk now."

"Ugh, fine. What is this about?" She questioned.

Eli grabbed her arm and practically dragged her to the garden.

"Eli let go of me...NOW!" Maria screamed as Eli closed the garden door behind him.

Maria saw Clare and Ali sitting on a bench in the middle of the garden.

"What the hell is this Sluts Anonymous?" Maria scoffed.

Clare could see Ali's hand form a fist and placed her own hand on her shoulder. Clare stood up, "Who the hell do you think you are?" Clare rarely swore, but this was a special occasion. She was pissed, pissed because she doesn't know who this girl is, pissed that the love of her life lied to her face and now pissed because Maria was laughing. Maria was standing there laughing her ass off!

Maria, in the midst of her laughter, however, found it very easy to say, "Who do I think I am? I'm Eli's sister!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's Chapter 4! Enjoy and review :)**

Chapter 4

Clare stood there with her mouth wide open, completely dumbfounded. She couldn't believe that this bitch standing in front of her is her boyfriend's sister. Although as she now stood there starring at Maria, Clare could see the unmistakable resemblance. Both Eli and Maria had the exact same hazel green eyes and dark brown hair, though Maria's was a little longer than shoulder length and unnaturally straight. In the sunlight of the Zen Garden Clare could see the subtle hints of red highlights shining off of the sibling's hair. They looked so much alike, some of the only differences Clare noticed was that Maria was a few inches shorter and pretty skinny…not quite anorexic, but definitely not normal. She might be bulimic, Clare thought. For someone that tiny, she sure had an attitude that Clare thought might even be able to take on Ali's.

Clare could feel her friend stand and grab her arm. Ali was just as surprised as Clare was. They both didn't know how long they were starring, but it felt like forever.

"Why. Why couldn't you tell me?" Clare managed to ask as Eli sat down on the bench in front of her.

"He didn't tell you because he is still ashamed of me, embarrassed to be my brother, hoping to hide me from the world…"Maria was interrupted.

"I'm not ashamed of you! I never was." Eli put his head in his hands.

"Oh really?" Her voice was getting louder, stronger, "You kept me in the hospital for as long as you could and as soon as I was out, you got me hit by a car so I could be back in!" Maria moved toward Clare, "My brother didn't tell you about me, he didn't tell anyone about me. The only person other than our dad who knew I so much as existed was Julia." When saying Julia's name Maria raised her eyebrows at Clare as if to test her knowledge on the deceased girl and was surprised when Clare didn't show any hint of shock….she knew about Julia. This infuriated Maria.

"Oh my god! You told her about Julia, but not about your own sister?" Maria turned to Eli in disbelief.

This was so much for Clare and Ali to take in at once. They both had questions but didn't know where to start. Clare figured she'd start with the most confusing part.

"Eli, what is she talking about? You hit her with a car?" Clare sat next to Eli on the bench, Ali close to her side.

"First of all I didn't hit her with a car. She ran out in front of it. Second of all…," He turned to face his sister, "I'm not ashamed of you, and I was trying to protect you."

"Of what? Becoming a person with friends and a good life? I was in the hospital ever since I can remember," Maria spat back.

"No! I was protecting you from be made a fool of. People are mean as it is and with you having that condition, I just didn't want you to have to go through that." Eli looked hurt and defensive, but none of this was fully answering Clare's questions.

"Wait what condition?" Ali boldly stepped into the conversation.

Now Maria it was Maria's turn to be on the defensive, "I have a split personality. I know that sounds weird but I had it totally under control with medication."

Both Clare and Ali looked completely confused so Maria explained, "You see, my mom died when I was nine and I took it really hard. When something that tragic happens to you, your brain creates a kind of defense mechanism to help your body deal with the tragic event. Some people are able to forget their tragic event. I have another personality to deal with it and needless to say, she is the nice version of me." Maria stood there across from Ali, studying her face for a reaction. All she found was confusion and pity.

"So you can act like two different people?" Clare questioned, horror spreading across her face.

"Technically, yes. Eli used to call her Nikki. It was my mother's name." She glanced toward her brother who was now reaching for Clare's hand.

Clare took his hand and held it tight, she could feel him shaking.

"She was the nicest person I've ever met." He whispered into Clare's palm, his eyes darkened as he stared into the distance.

"Ok so if you had this 'Nikki' under control, why were you still in the hospital?" Ali asked getting bolder with every word.

Maria glared at Eli, "Because he would make up symptoms so the nurses would keep me there for observation. I was never allowed to leave, until I was thirteen and even then I was only out for a few months before I got hit by that car." Clare could feel Eli tremble next to her, she tightened her grip on his hand and he relaxed.

"What happened? Why did you get hit?" Clare questioned.

Clare could see Eli cringing at her words.

"The night Julia died; I followed them on my bike to see if they were okay, but just as I got to his hearse, she was riding away on her bike. I followed her trying to catch up, but once I did she tried to get me to go home and that's when we saw it, but we already knew it was way too late. A flash of light is all I remember," She looked straight into Clare's eyes, "The next thing I remember is laying in the hospital asking for Julia, but she was gone, forever."


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's chapter 5**

**Hope you like it! this story is long i will admit but the twists are shocking so i encourage you to read on :) and of course always review :)**

Chapter Five

Clare didn't know what to say. Ali stood up and walked out of the garden without saying a word. Clare watched her leave then turned her attention back to Maria, who was now trying to compose herself, still looking at Eli.

Clare couldn't believe this. She figured Eli had secrets, but she had no idea what was actually going on behind the scenes. She could see how much it hurt him to listen to his own sister blame him for her unhappiness.

Clare took a chance, "Maria, I'm sor…"

"Don't! I don't need your pity," Maria spoke to Clare through her teeth as she walked toward the door and opened it. However, before she closed the door behind her, she glanced back at her brother, "It's your fault anyway and now that I attend school here, you'll never be able to hide me…" She glared at him now, "…or Nikki again."

Clare saw a single tear escape Eli's eye. He wiped it away before it even reached his nose. He hoped she didn't notice.

Clare held Eli in her arms on the bench in silence for a while, finally releasing him just to realize they skipped fourth period listening to Maria. Still in silence Clare walked Eli to his car and hesitated at the passenger side door.

Eli saw her cautiously standing outside looking in on him and motioned her to get in with his hand. He needed her, now more than ever. His sister's words stung and he could still hear them in his head. Clare got in the hearse and took Eli's hand in her own. He started the car.

"Can we go to your house? I can't face Bullfrog right now." Eli whispered squeezing Clare's hand.

Clare nodded. She knew her mother would be at work and even if she was home, she was used to seeing Eli at the house after school anyway.

They pulled up to Clare's house and Eli opened the front door for her as she grabbed the key in her bag.

The house was empty, just like Clare expected. Eli dropped his bag by the door and sat on the living room couch while Clare went to the kitchen and grabbed him a bottle of water. As she passed the kitchen table, she found a note from her mom that said,

"Clare,

Hope you had a fun day at school! Jason surprised me with tickets to the orchestra performance in town. I'll be home late. Make yourself a sandwich for dinner. I love you honey!

-Mom

Clare read the note to herself a second time. Jason was her mom's new boyfriend. He was nice, generous and decent looking. He was extremely tall, around six feet five inches with short blonde hair and a few freckles sprinkled across his nose. He rarely ever came to the house, let alone take her mom somewhere nice, but her mom has been dying to hear the orchestra for weeks.

Clare re-entered the living room to find Eli lying on the couch, absentmindedly tracing circles on the pillow by his head. He heard Clare walk in and quickly sat up to sip on the water she brought him.

The silence between them started to get awkward after a few minutes. Clare couldn't take it so she spoke, "My mom has a date tonight, so she won't be home until late…Do you want to stay awhile?" She moved closer to him and gently pushed strands of dark hair out of his face.

Eli paused a moment, leaned in and lightly kissed her lips before mouthing the word yes.

Clare still had questions, but she didn't want to push Eli too much so she kept quiet for a while. They both sat there in each other's arms for what felt like hours.

Eli suddenly stood up and took Clare's hand in his own. Without a word she stood and followed him upstairs to her room.

When they got to Clare's bedroom, Eli opened the door and they both entered the turquoise colored room. She'd changed the color since the last time Eli was there. Her room used to be a burgundy red color Eli used to complain about it all the time. Now it was the color he liked most on her. It always made her eyes look incredibly blue. Eli loved this color.

Clare noticed he was looking around her room and smiled, "You said it was your favorite color."

Eli turned to face her and stared into her amazing eyes before bowing his head to kiss her. He rested his hands on her hips as she lifted herself on the toes to kiss him harder. Her arms slowly wrapped around his neck and her fingers weaved through his dark hair.

In each other's arms, he led her to her bed and both sat her down on the plush purple bedding. Still kissing, Eli moved one hand to the nape of her neck as his other hand rested gently on her upper leg. He knew he couldn't push her too far despite how much he really wanted to. Clare had a virtue she cared a lot about and Eli wasn't about to break that. He respected her decision. He did however, like too see how far she would allow herself go. To test this he moved his hand from her neck to her lower back and slowly moved his lips down to her neck without them totally touching. His mouth hovered her neck for a moment as he breathed steadily. Then he noticed what he was waiting for. He could feel and hear Clare's breath quicken and quiver as he made her nervous. He smiled to himself and kissed her neck, moving to her collar bone. This is usually all Eli can do before Clare stops him, but he was shocked when Clare suddenly moved herself so that she lay on the bed with him hovering her. While making out, Clare reached inside Eli's black jacket and slipped it off his broad shoulders, revealing one of his many concert t-shirts he has collected over the years, his long strong arms banded around her waist.

It was unlike Clare to take control or go this far with him, but he was definitely not one to object.

She hastily reached for the back of his shirt and started to tug at it. He quickly got the idea and helped her pull it over his head. She could hear his breathing become more ragged and quicker as she pulled him closer to her. Her hands spread over his broad chest and trailed down his hard abs. She could hear him lightly moan and quiver under her touch. Clare giggled at his reaction and started to kiss down his neck. Eli flipped her so that she was now on top of him and resting her head on his bare chest. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders as she stroked the palm of his hand.

They both laid there for a few minutes until Clare broke the silence, "Eli?" she turned her body to face him.

Eli moved a curly strand of hair out of her face and smiled, "Yeah?"

Clare hesitated, "I… I love you." She blushed at her own words. She had never told a boy that before, not even KC, but she did love Eli. She could feel it all through her and needed him to hear her say it. She watched his face carefully and waited for a response.

Eli stared at her in shock, he couldn't believe it! Clare Edwards said I love you. He hadn't been told those three words since Julia and he was unbelievably happy that he now heard them from Clare. He loved Clare more than anything. She was the one person who would stand by him no matter how difficult his life…or his family was.

Eli gazed into her eyes which looked like crystals and whispered, "I love you too, more than you know."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for reading :) i hope you guys keep reading cause these chapters just get more controversal and twisted thanks :)**

**Review review review !**

Chapter six

After a few minutes, Clare sat up a little and rested on her arm, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just can't believe she's here." Eli turned himself to look at Clare and draped on hand around her waist. He watched her face, searching for some kind of a reaction. She gave none except a little confusion.

"What I don't understand is that she is two years younger than you but you have different moms…" Clare moved her body so that she was completely facing him.

Eli stared into her eyes and quietly explained, "A few months after I was born, my dad was _reunited_ with an old high school friend. Then he stared bringing Nikki to the house when my mom wasn't home. I was too young to understand. I just grew up with her being there. Then when I was two, Maria was born. She was kept a secret from my mom of course. As we grew up, Nikki was there for us and I knew how to keep that part of my life separate from my home life." Clare could see how relieved Eli was to finally let go of these family secrets. Nikki was obviously a big part of Eli's early life and Clare wanted him to continue. She wanted to know all about him, his family, past and present.

She asked questions to allow him to continue.

"What did she look like?"

"Nothing like Maria," Eli laughed a little to himself, "She was short, had light brown hair that she never wore down. She had dark eyes that I remember looked black when she was upset, but were usually hidden behind big black glasses. Nikki was like a second mom to me." He took Clare's hand in his own before he continued, "I didn't know what to do when she died, but Maria took it the hardest, that's when she created her other personality."

Clare moved closer and looked in his eyes, "And you wanted to protect her from people finding out?"

"Yes, well kids already made jokes about me for the way I dressed, and I knew they wouldn't leave her alone if they found out she acted like two different people. She's hated me for it ever since." He looked down at their hands and noticed the little silver flower ring on Clare's right hand. He smiled at her and kissed the ring. It was the ring he gave to her after the party they and Adam planned together a couple months ago.

Clare took Eli's hand and snuggled into his chest. He instinctively placed his free arm around her waist.

It was always easy for Clare to fall asleep in Eli's arms, right then she could hear his deep steady breathing and rhythmic heartbeat by her ear. He was obviously sleeping and knowing that he really was okay set her mind to rest and Clare quickly fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Sunrise came suddenly to Clare but she woke quickly when she realized she was all alone in her room. Eli knew better than to stay till morning and risk Clare's mom catching him, so he snuck out just after Clare had fallen asleep.

Clare silently got dressed into a light blue day dress and slipped on her jean jacket before heading to the bathroom to finish getting ready for school.

"Good morning!" Clare could hear her mom across the hall.

She said a quick good morning back to her mother as she ran down the stairs, grabbed a bottle of ice tea and headed out the front door. She was greeted by the sight of the long black hearse that was sitting in her driveway like it did every morning. Clare smiled at the sight of Morty and his driver. Eli stepped out of his car and walked around to the other side to open the door for Clare.

"Good morning my lady," he said as he gestured toward the car door.

Just as Clare was about to get in she realized that she had forgotten her bag. Eli noticed too and hopped in front of her as she was going back to the house.

"I'll get it." He said with a sweet smile. Eli was such a gentleman when it came to Clare.

Clare smiled and got into the passenger side of Morty and threw two of her books in the back seat.

Eli returned moments later with her bag and hopped in the hearse.

"You seem like you're in a good mood." Clare noticed he hadn't taken his smile off his face since it appeared there.

Eli slightly hesitated, "Oh nothing, I'm always happy when I spend time with you."

Clare blushed and rested her hand on his arm as they pulled out of the drive way and headed toward the school.

When they arrived at Degrassi, Eli parked Morty and stepped out of the car to see Maria standing on the sidewalk talking to….Fitz? All of Eli's thoughts were in protective big brother mode as he walked up to them, Clare just a step behind. As the two of them approached, Maria glanced at them.

"Good morning Maria…Fitz." Eli said dryly, a hard expression on his face.

Maria grunted and rolled her eyes which made Fitz laugh a little.

"Ha! Wow, your own sister even has that reaction to you. That's sad." Fitz jabbed at Eli, now making Maria giggle.

Eli and Clare walked past them. Clare muttered grow up under her breath, hoping Fitz heard it. It infuriated Eli to think that his sister was talking to that moron. He hoped he wouldn't have to get involved…maybe Fitz will annoy her enough with his infantile ways that she'll see he's a loser and the problem will be solved without an intervention. Eli liked the idea and cooled down as he walked Clare to her locker.

It was Friday, and school was less than interesting for Clare when all she could think about was what she and Eli might do this weekend. She hoped they could go to a movie or hangout at his place. Clare found out after 4th period that he must have been having the same thoughts, when he walked up to her locker and asked, "So blue eyes, what are we doing this weekend?" he raised his eyebrows and flashed her a smile.

"What do you want to do?" Clare smirked, knowing what answer he is thing but would never say…

They walked outside to Morty, when Eli took Clare's hand in his own and pushed her back up against his car. The mixed smell of Eli's cologne and body sent intoxicated Clare's brain. She loved being this close to him. Eli smiled down to her knowing his effect on her and bent down to lightly kiss her lips.

"I was thinking that we should do something this weekend," he said as he stared into Clare's blue eyes

"What did you have in mind?" Clare playfully replied.

"Oh...I don't know." He smirked and took two tickets out of the back of his pocket and placed them into Clare's hand.

She looked down and read the tickets….

VV BROWN: SHARK IN THE WATER TOUR _ROW B_SEAT 6

"Oh My Gosh!" Clare practically screamed! "VV Brown's concert? And second row?" She squealed looking into Eli's green eyes, a HUGE smile on her face.

"You like it?" He asked still smirking.

"Love it! But…" She looked at Eli playfully concerned, "…am I going to need to be concerned about how you got them?"

Eli laughed, "No, Bullfrog knows the guy who is setting up the stage for her."

Clare wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a long hug. When she finally released him, she stretched on her tip toes and kissed him.

"I just wanted to do something you would like this weekend." Eli smiled at his girlfriend and gently brushed a few strands of hair out of her face.

"You didn't have to do this, you know."

"I know, but I had to find some way to thank you for last night ;)" the smirk on his face got bigger and Clare playfully hit his arm and rolled her eyes.


End file.
